UAE and Singapore Move to Deepen Ties in Business and Philanthropy

•Non-oil trade increased by 25.34 percent in 2025, with the UAE representing Singapore's largest trading partner in the Middle East

•Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Business and Philanthropy, H.E. Badr Jafar, joins the Forbes Global CEO Conference, Milken Institute Asia Summit, Temasek Foundation's Asia Leaders Connect and the Asia Leaders Series

Singapore, 8 October 2026 -- His Excellency Badr Jafar, Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Business and Philanthropy, conducted a three-day visit to Singapore from 7 to 9 October to meet with leaders of investment institutions, universities and philanthropic organizations, and participate in several of the region’s leading business and philanthropy forums.

The visit aimed to explore opportunities to strengthen the UAE and Singapore’s already substantial economic relationship and expand cooperation into new areas of investment, industry, education and philanthropy.

As part of the programme, H.E. Jafar met with the leadership of the Singapore Economic Development Board, Enterprise Singapore and JTC Corporation; Temasek, Macquarie Group and PSA International; the National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University; and the Philanthropy Asia Alliance and the Asia Philanthropy Circle, as well as precision health company AMILI.

Business and investment meetings explored how the bilateral relationship can support wider growth between the regions by expanding two-way market access, connecting long-term capital with enterprise and infrastructure, and helping companies scale into new markets. Exchanges on industrial development and logistics covered advanced manufacturing, ports and freight connectivity, and future-ready infrastructure.

Discussions with universities and philanthropic institutions discussed ways to strengthen talent and research links, advance the responsible use of emerging technologies, and mobilize flexible capital behind locally led solutions. They reflected the growing role of strategic philanthropy alongside government and business, particularly where early risk-taking can help promising approaches prove their value and reach scale.

H.E. Jafar said: “Singapore and the UAE have each turned connection into a competitive advantage. Both built open economies, invested for the long term and made themselves platforms for regions far larger than their own borders. As capital, technology and supply chains are reorganized, trusted connectors matter more, not less. The task now is to turn a strong bilateral foundation into practical partnerships across enterprise, infrastructure, talent and philanthropy. Governments provide direction and confidence, business turns opportunity into productive capacity, and strategic philanthropy takes the early risks and widens participation. When those three work together, a relationship between two countries becomes a platform for shared growth across all the markets they connect.”

The UAE is Singapore's largest trading partner in the Middle East. Bilateral goods trade reached USD 43.71 billion in 2025, up from USD 39.32 billion the year before, while non-oil trade rose to USD 6.54 billion from USD 5.2 billion. UAE direct investment in Singapore stood at USD 5.12 billion between 2021 – 2025 and a total of 230 Singaporean companies operate in the UAE between 2003 – Aug 2026. Top sectors for Singaporean investments in the UAE include real estate, hotels & tourism, coal, oil & gas, communications and transportation & warehousing. The visit builds on the UAE-Singapore Comprehensive Partnership and the 17th Abu Dhabi-Singapore Joint Forum, held in Singapore on 28 September, which produced a memorandum of understanding on investment cooperation, a letter of intent to develop an industrial corridor between Abu Dhabi and Singapore, and renewed cooperation on public sector capability.

The programme also included the 24th Forbes Global CEO Conference, the 13th Milken Institute Asia Summit, Temasek Foundation’s Asia Leaders Connect 2026, the Asia Leaders Series Regional Meeting on ‘Tech Supremacy’ and a Financial Times forum on family philanthropy in Asia. The discussions focused on navigating rapid advances in artificial intelligence, shifting trade patterns and intensifying strategic competition, while strengthening cooperation and inclusive growth.

Speakers at the week's conferences included Singapore's Prime Minister His Excellency Lawrence Wong; Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund; Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media; Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates; Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, CEO of Temasek; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder of Biocon; and His Excellency Mohammad Alhawi, Undersecretary of the UAE Ministry of Investment.

The visit underlines the role that business and philanthropic networks play in UAE-Singapore relations and in widening the flow of capital, knowledge and opportunity between the UAE and Asia.